Anti-Shed by Syndicate Smith
Anti-Shed sits in Winthrop, WA, United States, a house by Syndicate Smith shaped by the Methow Valley’s sharp seasons and long mountain views. The project trades the region’s familiar glassy shed roofs for a pared-back gable form, drawing instead on the owners’ Scandinavian travels and a close reading of wind, snow, and sun. Inside and out, it balances exposure and shelter in a way that feels precise yet relaxed.
Winter light drops across the valley and catches on two matte-black gables, their ridgelines cutting a crisp silhouette against snow and sky. Between them, a protected entry draws the eye inward before views open back out toward the Methow’s wide basin.
Anti-Shed is a house in Winthrop, Washington, by Syndicate Smith that rethinks the region’s default of glassy, shed-roofed homes. The brief is clear: respond to the Methow Valley climate with a compact form, a dark skin that works through the seasons, and rooms that frame landscape without surrendering privacy. Every move reads through that lens, from the courtyard layout to the calibrated size and placement of each window.
Reading The Valley
The house takes the pure gable as its starting point, a familiar outline borrowed from the owners’ Scandinavian travels and tuned here to local conditions. Two matte-black volumes stand side by side, their cladding absorbing low winter sun while sharply outlining the profile against the valley’s bright snow. Between them, a central entry sequence compresses movement, pulling visitors off the open site and into a more sheltered realm that softens the north-south winds. That simple move sets up a clear environmental gradient from exposed edge to protected core.
Courtyard As Refuge
At the heart of the composition sits a courtyard that reads as an outdoor living room, shielded from the valley’s prevailing winds. The plan wraps this court so summer life can slip outside without giving up comfort or conversation, turning what could be a harsh, gusty lot into a calm everyday setting. Surfaces around the court catch changing light throughout the day, pulling warmth and brightness into adjacent rooms even when the air stays cool. This inward-facing room in the open landscape becomes the hinge between the big views and more intimate daily routines.
Framing View Moments
Inside, Syndicate Smith resists the lure of continuous glass walls and instead composes what they call intentional view moments. A dining table lines up with a mountain panorama, so meals sit in quiet dialogue with the distant peaks rather than a generalized expanse. A reading nook draws in generous light, its aperture sized for comfort and focus instead of spectacle, while smaller windows capture single summits like landscape paintings. These controlled openings temper glare, manage heat gain, and keep interior life from feeling overexposed to valley weather.
Balancing Public And Private
The plan divides into two clear wings, a move that tracks with shifts in light, views, and use over the day. One volume holds the social core, with kitchen, dining, and living rooms oriented toward the broad sweep of the valley and an easy relationship to the courtyard. The other wing gathers the primary suite and a separate guest suite, a quieter bar set slightly apart so visiting family and friends inhabit their own small retreat. Together, the paired gables create a measured rhythm between openness and seclusion, tying patterns of occupation to the climate just outside the walls.
As evening settles, the dark exterior folds back into the landscape while warm interior light reads through those selected openings. The courtyard holds onto the day’s last heat, extending time outdoors a little longer before temperatures drop. Anti-Shed lands as a house deeply keyed to wind, snow, and sun, using a simple form and a few exacting cuts in its envelope to live well in the Methow Valley.
Photography courtesy of Syndicate Smith
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